With the rise in female entrepreneurs launching online programs over the past few years we’ve started hearing more and more about launch burnout.

So why do so many of us get sick during launches?

It’s usually a combination of factors – we are ‘switched on’ for an extended period of time, we don’t give ourselves enough down-time and we have much higher stress levels due to other pressures including financial, ego and also our perception of what others will think.

We often also come face to face with our own upper limits during a launch which can mean that we subconsciously sabotage ourselves with illness which adds to the stress levels.

Each of us has an inner thermostat setting that determines how much love, success, and creativity we allow ourselves to enjoy.

When we exceed our inner thermostat setting, we will often do something to sabotage ourselves, causing us to drop back into the old, familiar zone where we feel secure.

– Gay Hendricks, The Big Leap

But launches don’t have to equal burnout.

What stories are you telling yourself about launching?

Do any of these sound familiar?

• I always get sick
• Launches aren’t meant to be easy
• I’ll get burnt out
• Launches are so stressful
• “The launch” must go on
• I don’t have time to look after myself
• Evergreen would make everything better
• I need to earn $X to be like…

If you are starting to identify with burnout you start to take it on as part of your identity. For example saying things like “I always get sick during launches” or “I suffer from adrenal fatigue” has a powerful impact on your energy in the launch.

[bctt tweet=”We need to change the conversation about launching.” username=”kathhocking”]

Burnout is not normal, acceptable or sustainable.

Why you need to understand the difference between masculine and feminine traits in launching

In order to launch in a way that is better for our mind, body and soul we need to understand the difference between the masculine and feminine in launching.

All females have some masculine traits/energy and all males have some feminine traits/energy.  

The problem is that the masculine energy of striving, pushing through, being assertive and ambitious no matter what has left us feeling exhausted and many women have disconnected with the feminine when in fact we need to balance both traits.

We’ve lost our connection to intuition, spirituality, feeling, inner wisdom, body wisdom, creativity, nurturing ourselves, softness and beauty.

Megan Dalla Camina talked about this in her blog Feminine is the new balance talking about how women have lost touch with the feminine and need to connect with this again.

To reshape the world, we need to lead like women, not be bad clones of men, and our feminine traits are the pathway home

– Megan Dalla Camina

The chart below compares the different traits in launching

It’s important to know that neither one energy is intrinsically better than the other when launching but they do need to be balanced.

Too much feminine energy means that you’ll struggle to take action but too much masculine energy means that you will ignore your intuition and sacrifice your health.

Light and shadow to both

There is light and shadow to both energies and that means it can either work for your good or detriment. We cannot assume that all “feminine” traits are intrinsically in our best interest.

How to determine the energy of your launches

Most entrepreneurs are usually embodying an extreme of one energy or the other.[bctt tweet=”The beauty is in the balance… we need both masculine and feminine energy when launching.” username=”kathhocking”]

Get your free copy of the “energy of your launches” worksheet straight from the Launch Mastery program.

Once you have completed the energy of your launches worksheet you can get some tips to balance your energy below.

If you have a masculine launching style consider:

• A self-care plan
• Getting more help
• Releasing the reigns a little
• Bringing in some ritual to your launches
• Checking in with your intuition and body wisdom to ensure alignment

If you have a feminine launching style consider:

• Setting up more structure around your launch
• Get some help with your systems and automation
• Setting goals and tracking
• Daily and weekly to-do lists

I hope this blog post has inspired you to balance your energies and do your launch a little differently next time around!